From The Couch – Another Sunflower Mowdown
That was fun! K-State mowed down the Kansas Jayhawks (again) on Saturday, by the score of 42-17. K-State went into the game as a three-point underdog, and KU and their fans were confident they would break K-State’s 16-game winning streak in the first K-State/KU game in KU’s new stadium. It wasn’t to be. K-State dominated for most of the game in what was an old fashioned ass whooping.
KU fans and administration weren’t the only ones confident that KU would break the streak. Two of the three analysts on TNT’s pregame show also picked the Jayhawks to win.
JM: Was I ever worried about K-State losing this game? Not really. That is, until K-State decided to fumble the opening kickoff return and KU recovered.
JM: KU was able to capitalize, scoring a touchdown on a Jalon Daniels touchdown run to take a 7-0 lead. Daniels fumbled the ball going across the goal line, and K-State recovered the ball in the end zone. The officials reviewed the play and upheld the touchdown, but we never got a good look at the play due to pathetic camera angles. Please do better, TNT. It sure looked like a fumble to me, but the touchdown did not matter in the long run. This is the best angle I could find of the touchdown run. Notice that Daniels is signaling a touchdown, and all of the K-State players are signaling that it was a K-State fumble recovery….
JM: K-State was unfazed by the early KU touchdown and responded by driving 82 yards in seven plays, capped off by a two-yard touchdown run by Avery Johnson.
JM: Avery Johnson looked really good in this game. I felt like he went out there and just played football and didn’t worry about anything distracting him. His statistics weren’t fantastic, but they didn’t need to be. He was 11 for 17 passing, with 231 yards and two touchdowns, and ran the ball six times for 17 yards. What I liked was that he was aggressive in running the ball when he had an opening to, was accurate throwing deep, and had zero turnovers.
“I really believed we were going to block a punt for a touchdown. I told the officials that the first punt they have, we’re coming, and everyone is coming. They fumbled the snap, so we didn’t have a chance at it, but that was a turning point for us.”…K-State head coach Chris Klieman, post-game
JM: This three-and-out stop by the K-State defense was huge and set the tone for the rest of the game. The fumble return for a touchdown put K-State ahead 14-7, and they never looked back.
I found Klieman’s comment interesting in that he told the officials they were coming after the punt. Is this common for coaches to do? What is the point? Maybe the refs are reluctant to call a penalty if you warn them, should there be a roughing call? Kinda odd, but whatever.
I noticed early in the game that K-State looked motivated. They were hitting much harder than KU on every play. It is the best, and definitely the most hyped, I have seen the K-State defense play this season.
“Our guys had tremendous focus this week. They know all about this streak. Our guys could feel that for sure this was the year, and it kind of pissed off a lot of our older Kansas kids. I told them, you just have to prepare this week. You can’t worry about Saturday. It’s going to get here. If we do the things we need to do, I have a feeling we’ll play really well. These guys were razor sharp and focused.”…K-State head coach Chris Klieman, post-game
JM: I could tell. Thank you, coach!
JM: And the rout was on! Well, not quite. K-State took a 21-14 lead into halftime, and with KU getting the first possession of the second half, I was worried that KU might tie the game. My worry was unfounded, as the K-State defense forced a timely three-and-out to start the half. K-State had to punt right back to them, but an interception by Daniel Cobbs gave K-State the ball with good field possession. Avery Johnson threw to Jayce Brown down to the one-yard line, and DeVon Rice finished off the drive with a touchdown run.
KU answered with a field goal. K-State had the ball on its own 22-yard line and I said out loud, “a touchdown right here would be nice.” The words had just come out of my mouth before Johnson dropped back and threw this bomb to Jayce Brown for a 78-yard touchdown…
“That was the dagger. Me and Coach Wells probably had the same thing going through our mind at the moment. They gave us a single-high look, and I said, ‘If Jayce is pressed…’ I knew Jayce was going to be going right there. I just tried to put it up with air and let him do his thing after it. “When we scored that one, we weren’t completely celebrating too early, but I felt that we had them at that point.”…K-State quarterback Avery Johnson, post-game
JM: The TNT Sports X account called Avery Johnson a “Flamethrower.” Meanwhile, Kansas coach Lance Leipold had this to say…
“Avery’s a fine quarterback.”…KU head coach Lance Leipold, post-game
JM: A fine quarterback? Your quarterback threw for 129 yards with an interception and was sacked four times. What a ridiculous comment about a quarterback that just kicked your ass for three hours.
JM: Jalon Daniels was doing deep breathing exercises on the sideline? KU was overconfident going into the game and played tightly and nervous. K-State played loose and confidently.
JM: Jeff reminded me, as did another buddy of mine via text message, that some local media types, like sports radio talk show host Soren Petro, were saying that Lance Leipold is better, or has done a better job, than Bill Snyder did. Yeah, right.
JM: KU fans were not having fun in the second half.
JM: I captured this from a short video posted in a private K-State group on Facebook. In the video, you see the KU security person on his walkie-talkie and K-State superfan Robert walking down the aisle with his “we own this state” sign. Apparently, someone complained that Robert was holding up the sign, and KU staff confiscated it. I have heard, although it has not been corroborated, that Robert was not kicked out of the stadium, but they did take the sign, and Robert had to wait after the game for them to return it to him. Ridiculous.
JM: This comment is from a KU fan. That’s pretty crazy.
JM: Do you think K-State running backs coach Joe Hall was motivated to beat KU? Alas, there is more to this story….
JM: If it is true that KU did this, just wow. Talk about bulletin board material. That took some balls.
JM: Go, Joe!
“These last four games, we’ve hit a groove, and we’ve found our identity, and we focused in on KU, and we did a really good job of that in our off week. That showed today. Guys came out firing and ready to play. It was a really great win to get for our seniors.”…Avery Johnson, post-game
JM: I do have to ask….where was this motivation earlier in the season?
“We kept him (Jalon Daniels) contained. The defensive line got after him. We didn’t let him get explosive yardage. We understood he’s a heck of a player and he has the ball in his hands. I’m just glad we kept him contained.”…K-State linebacker Desmond Purnell, post-game
JM: Purnell had nine tackles, one sack, one quarterback pressure, one forced fumble, and one pass breakup in the game. If Purnell isn’t a first-team all-Big 12 linebacker at the end of the season, I don’t know who is playing better than him in the league. He has been amazing lately.
“All I wanted to do was go out there and win. We definitely won — and then some.”…Desmond Purnell, post-game
JM: Add three hundred and sixty-some to that number.
Up next for K-State is Texas Tech at home at 2:30 next Saturday. Looks like a much more winnable game than it did a couple of weeks ago.
